Ellinwood Elem

Ellinwood Elem is an elementary-level community of small scale in Ellinwood, Kansas, overseen by Ellinwood Public Schools, works with 202 students in grades pre-K through 6. That puts it 35% smaller than the typical public school in Kansas, which averages around 313 students.

Ellinwood Elem is one of 3 schools operated by Ellinwood Public Schools, a district that enrolls 420 students overall.

In terms of who attends, Ellinwood Elem logs that the student body is overwhelmingly White (80%). The remainder is composed of 15% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

On the income-and-resources front, The school currently runs with 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.2:1, putting Ellinwood Elem tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 50% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Barton County (around 62%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Ellinwood Elem tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 38.5% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 34.9%.

Zooming out to the county, Barton County reports that the typical household earns roughly $58,851 per year, 22% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. Ellinwood Elem is one of 15 public schools in Barton County (combined enrollment of about 4,179 students).

The closest other public school is Ellinwood Middle School, roughly 0.3 miles away. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Ellinwood Elem comes 2nd of 9 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 27.0%.

The school occupies a rural site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Ellinwood Elem has contracted 31%, going from 291 students in 2018 to 202 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share shrank from 93% to 80%. Class-load math has tightened: from 13.9:1 in 2018 to 11.6:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.